Summer feels and foot injury update

June is done and it’s time to focus on relaxing. It’s summer holiday month in Finland! 🙂

It’s feels weird to “suddenly” be on vacation. I spent so much time stuck at home this year (with the foot injury) that I kinda wasn’t prepared to be at home again, but luckily it’s not with an injury this time! Summer vacation is always welcome, no matter what.

A week ago Midsummer celebrations kicked off summer holiday season and the weekend was really lovely. It must have been one of the warmest Midsummer weekends we’ve had in years.

Midsummer

Midsummer weekend is probably one of the most Finnish celebrations there are. It’s all about summer, sauna, good food and drink in good company and of course the serenity of our nature. Midsummer used to be a pagan celebration of summer solstice but these days it’s a celebration of the lightest time of the year and of course celebration of our short and sweet summer.

Midsummer weekend is traditionally spent in summer houses by the sea or the many, many lakes we have. The Finnish cities feel empty as people rush to spend the weekend in the calm of nature with family and friends. The tradition to burn Misdummer bonfires is still a reminder of the old days when they were used to keep the evil spirits away.

I have to admit that Midsummer was never a big thing for me before I met my husband (I’m a total Christmas person). But with him and our family summer house in the Southwest archipelago, I’ve started to really look forward to that weekend of rest before the summer holidays really start. There is very little hassle. The days are spent mostly with reading, eating and going to sauna and then playing boardgames together. It’s very relaxing and time seems to stop when we are there. We usually start our holidays one week after Midsummer, so it’s nice to catch your breath before trying to wrap everything in a week. Even the bugs don’t bother me that much anymore. 😀

Foot injury getting better and better

So anyway, Midsummer weekend was really lovely and now we have started our vacation, and luckily my feet are doing better too! It’s been pretty much 6 months since I was diagnosed with the first, more severe plantar plate tear and about 3 months since the other foot was diagnosed with a minor tear too. It feels like forever but there has been clear progress. Now I have finally gotten permission to start practicing going down the stairs with normal steps! So far I’ve gone down the stairs sort of sideways, stepping one stair at a time with both feet landing on the step before the next. Other exercise I have also been doing after six months is raising on my tiptoes. It’s super nice to be able to reach for stuff again! 🙂

I love it that I can be less careful with my feet and just enjoy using them more and more! I still can’t jump or run but those will happen in time, hopefully during autumn. I’m so happy of the progress I’ve made, even if it’s been a long time. Having the possibility to be active during my holiday means a lot, and I did not take it for granted when I realized how slow this process would be. Now I just need to get rid of this summer cold that I’ve caught, but that’s a breeze compared to recovering from the plantar plate tear. 🙂

Have a lovely July everyone and enjoy summer!